Thursday, April 15, 2010

One Grain at a Time..................

Hi, my name is Heather and I have felt compelled to share my journey of PCOS, pregnancy, Macrobiotics, veganism, holistic health, environmental preservation, and raising baby for some time.

After the numerous responses that I received from Alicia Silverstone's website, I felt that it might really be important to share my personal journey with others. I am not a doctor, and I respect Western medicine in cases of emergency, but as I continue on my 6th year of growing into my Macrobiotic practice, I have a heightened intuition that guides me. (when I choose to listen) I will refer to this intuition quite a bit in my writing, because as a mother that intuition is necessary when there are so many forces in the world that will be looking out for your "best interest".

I am excited and honored to have you read this..................
Warm Hugs,

9 comments:

Hi Heather, I have a 2 yr old and am considering changing all (my husband agrees too) our diets to become vegan. What are your thoughts regarding comments like 'children raised on vegan diets do not grow as tall/big as those raised on meat and dairy'.We are planning a 2nd baby, and am excited about the new opportunities the vegan lifestyle can offer - I wish I had done this for our first baby.Looking forward to reading more of your blog in future.

Hi Heather I am Julianaa Braunsroth, we changed messages through the kind life but I am having trouble getting to the site. Anyway I want to thank you for the help. I do know mochi cause I am half japanese and my kids love misso soup. Just finding trouble packing their lunches for school. I'll be checking your posts here too. Love and light

Hi mom friends, So happy to hear from you. Protein no problem. The agriculture and dairy business have really scared our country into believing that we need their products. Whole Grains, beans, seaweed, veggies, nuts and seeds, miso, and fruits will provide what you need. Finley is VERY tall like her mom and dad and WELL within her appropriate weight. Variety is the spice of life, so I make the farmers market on sunday my ritual to reconnect with natures patterns and pick seasonal fresh items. I have also joined a CSA and folks will exchange recipes. Juliana, I forgot to mention that Amazake is a great food item for kids too. Fin loves drinking it straight up, I use kuzu and make puddings, or we add fruit to make shakes. Vegan lunch box is a good website and book for kids lunches, they do use quite a bit of sugar in their book, but you can sub with brown rice syrup. I will post some of the best books I have used very soon. take sweet care and chat w/ you soon!

Hi Heather, sounds like you and your family are thriving, thanks for the reasurance.How, when you started out, did you manage to stick with your dietary changes ? Were you ever tempted by old habits, and if so, what did you do to overcome these or any other obstacles.

Hi Heather, I am very excited about your upcoming vegan pregnancy blogs! I have been a vegan for a year now, after four years of vegetarianism. Choosing a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle always makes my family and friends nervous when the topic of children comes up in regards to my husband and me. I know they ask these questions because we have been misinformed in ads and commercials that dairy and meat are the staples of healthy diets. So, I have many questions that maybe could become one of your blog topics. What (if any) pre-natal supplements did you take? Are there certain foods that one should eat while pregnant? Did you have any worries when the time came for immunizing Finley? And if you decided to immunize, what immunizations do you feel are necessary?

Hi Mommies and mommies to be!It can be scary and isolating when embarking on something that is NOT mainstream. I dream of living in a community with other vegan/macro families, supporting one another....not completely realistic...what I do have is a small group of people who respect my commitment and decision. I will say that it has taken some time to get there...as I navigated towards this direction, my body discharged the dairy, chicken and eggs that I had eaten quite heavily in the past. My family was worried I wasnt getting proper nourishment, offered to give me money to go see a doctor, and I was a bit jabbed at family gatherings when I didnt partake in the meat and dairy fest. When you choose to take this path, you will not only be losing weight, but you will be shedding people, material things, emotional upsets that no longer serve you. After delivering Finley they wanted to discharge me within 24 hours from the hospital, but Finley had some jaundice issues so I stayed with her. I wanted to nurse her the entire time, but I was discouraged by the doctor and the nurses...and was told to give her a bottle and sugar water when they took blood tests. Simply put, it didnt feel right...I refused even though I was scared, having no experience in this area. Reflecting on this experience reminds when things like colds or immunizations come up...if something doesnt feel right, I pause. Unless it is an emergency anything can wait!Cate asked about temptations---I gave up all dairy, meat, eggs...all animal products overnight. In macro language, people sometimes call it discharge, but as you shed your old eating habits, your body still has a cellular memory of all that stuff. So yes, you will have cravings. I have eaten ALOT of nut butters to replace the occasional meat and TONS of dairy I ate in the past. I try to choose a healthier alternative when I have cravings.....sometimes I will deep fry mochi because it feels so indulgent. I can make it either sweet or savory, or both! But it helps replace the fat and the chewy creamy ---salty or sweet taste and texture I need. Plus, great long sustaining energy for the day! Allie, I will do a blog entry on eating and pregnancy soon. Take sweet care friends!

I am so glad that I picked up the 'Kind Diet' book and found your page. I was slightly diagnosed with PCOS in August of 2008, and then fully diagnosed in August of 2009. Since I'm not a typical person that they see with PCOS, I feel like the doctors aren't sure what to do for me. It's going to a kind of slow process for me because my husband is deployed and I'm living with my dad for the next year, but I am going to do the lifestyle change. If it has helped you, I know that it can help me! I am so excited to get started on it, but I know everybody is going to think I'm crazy. I can't wait to read more of your blog!

Hi Heather,I ejoyed reading your posts both here and at the kind life site. I was wondering about dairy milk and children. My son is 20 mos old and we have been giving him organic whole milk but I have been wanting to switch him to non-dairy milk. He seems to like organic soy milk too (but I hear that is bad too). I am worry about his calcium intake...please help.